Trip Report and the Red Heifer Sacrifice

End Times Berean Watchman Report

April 5, 2024 – No. 44

Analysis and commentary on today’s prophetic events from author and biblical researcher – Dr. Christian Widener

EndTimesBerean.com

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Well, I’m back from Israel, and wanted to give you a quick update on the trip and to talk about the potential and significance of a Red Heifer sacrifice in this ETB Watchman Report, before we head off to watch the upcoming April 8 eclipse!

I want to take this chance to focus on the red heifer sacrifice and the many convergences that suggest it could be the trigger that sets everything in motion.

Why Are the Red Heifers Suddenly Getting Attention?

The amazing thing that we should consider when looking for signs of the times is that, even when people don’t fully understand them, true signs somehow always make big news. That’s a very important concept to grasp. Why? Because it can help us sift through the tons of things that might be intriguing to some people, but really aren’t significant signs. If it is a sign, it needs to be seen by everyone. Not literally, everyone, of course, but you get the idea, it can’t have been done in corner…

²⁵ “I am not insane, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable. ²⁶ The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”

Acts 26:25-27 NIV

Now, why does that matter? Because suddenly the red heifers are making national news. That should clue us in that it might be a true sign. But more than that, it was the reason Hamas said that they attacked Israel, and furthermore, activist Muslims are beginning to talk about the red heifers as something they need to preemptively respond to. I can’t exactly recommend watching the video below, as it is loaded with false pro-Hamas narratives, but in case you want to know how they’re thinking, here’s an example: “EP3: Ramadan, Al-Aqsa, and… 5 Red Cows?” by Aqsa Frontline Podcast: https://youtu.be/Yb_64dB8xus?si=uRwlJ6ZUwTAwN4_F

The video confirms that the Muslim world is aware of and watching what the Jews and Christians are doing by bringing the red heifers to Israel. They are promoting that Muslims should do all they can to prevent the sacrifice of the red heifers because the Jews are able to do so, then they will divide the Temple Mount and desecrate it further by coming in even larger numbers to the Temple Mount. Their mindset is that Allah has given them the Temple Mount fair and square and most see no need whatsoever to share or give it back. This is about maintaining control of Mount Moriah, God’s holy hill, as their own private shrine to Allah, the Haram al-Sharif, the third holiest site in Islam. Non-muslims are forbidden to visit Mecca and Medina, and they would love to restore that complete ban to the Temple Mount, as well.

If the Jews do sacrifice one of the red heifers, then they would have the ability to consecrate themselves for restoring temple worship, and to purify any Jews who would like to ascend the Temple Mount. They would be able to reinstate some form of daily sacrifices, and they could rebuild their temple, which is not something that Hamas wants to see take place.

Is It an Abomination to Offer Sacrifices Now?

Admittedly, many in the Christian world are uncomfortable with supporting the return of temple services. Particularly, the sacrifice of the red heifer, which Numbers 19:9 says is a method of purification from sin.

Now a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, and the congregation of the sons of Israel shall keep it as water to remove impurity; it is purification from sin.

Numbers 19:9 NASB

Now, this is just a temporary purification, it is something that for a limited time stays God’s righteous judgment against ones uncleanness. There is still a need for absolution in an eternal sense. In fact, the purpose of the ritual is to continually remind man of his uncleanness before God and his need for ultimate purification. As believers and followers of Jesus Christ, we know that we have been eternally purified by faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the final atoning sacrifice for sin. Once and for all, all of our sins have been covered. The sacrificial system was designed to point people to the Messiah, who came nearly two thousand years ago as the suffering servant in the person of Jesus Christ, and he will come again soon as the conquering King of Kings and the Lion of Judah. But I think that a return to the sacrificial system is a step towards remembering the need for purification in the first place, and then ultimately to understand that the blood of goats and bulls cannot take away sins. But at the same time, we miss what the author of Hebrews says in chapter 9, verse 13, which he said after Christ’s death and resurrection. Namely, that sprinkling with the ashes of the red heifer on those that have been defiled does cleanse them. But yes, only temporarily. They still need “the mediator of a new covenant.”

¹³ For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, ¹⁴ how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? ¹⁵ For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Hebrews 9:13-15 NASB

I know that’s a tough concept, but the author of Hebrews goes on to explain, not that the sacrificial system is an abomination to God, but simply that it just was never enough on its own. It was only a “reminder of sins year by year” that pointed them to the need of the Messiah.

¹ For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. ² Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? ³ But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. ⁴ For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Hebrews 10:1-4 NASB

Remember that all of Hebrews was written AFTER Christ’s death and resurrection and WHILE temple services were still going on, i.e. prior to 70 AD. If all of this was a complete abomination, as many have asserted, then why did the Holy Spirit inspire the author to write this way about temple practices? But no, it is not an abomination, the author only asserts that those practices are insufficient to take away sins. For Christians, they are completed in Jesus. For Jews, sacrifices were required by God both for simple offerings and also to atone for sins so that they would come to know the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of David, who was born in Bethlehem over two thousand years ago. He is the final sacrifice, when anyone accepts him. Until then, I don’t believe it is evil or wrong, it is just ineffective for permanently cleansing their sins and saving their souls.

Here’s another example that might help explain what I am saying. Think about baptism and communion. Do those practices save you? No. Can you be saved if you were never baptized or never had communion? Yes. How do I know? The simplest example is the thief on the cross. However, if someone who claims to be a follower of Christ willfully and continually refuses either baptism or communion, might we wonder if they are true followers of Jesus? Yes. Okay, so how does that apply to sacrifices and the temple system? Because they, too, are just a kind of sacrament, a religious ritual that is designed to teach us and remind us of important spiritual truths. They are not the thing itself that saves us.

The last point to consider on this subject is that it is prophesied that sacrifices and offerings, will be on going on throughout the millennium. This is found described in the future Ezekiel temple, described in chapters 45-47, but also in some specific prophecies talking about the last days.

Even those I will bring to My holy mountain And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.

Isaiah 56:7 NASB

¹ “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts. ² “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. ³ He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. ⁴ Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

Malachi 3:1-4 NASB

But it is also written… On the other hand, there are other verses that state that sacrifices CAN BE an abomination when they are offered insincerely or as a cover for wickedness. So I think that it is worthy of consideration and watchfulness to try and understand which of these two scenarios represent the present efforts to reestablish offerings and sacrifices; however, we should be careful not to add our own distaste for a system that we arguably don’t fully understand and thereby condemn what God may not have.

³ “But he who kills an ox is like one who slays a man;
He who sacrifices a lamb is like the one who breaks a dog’s neck;
He who offers a grain offering is like one who offers swine’s blood;
He who burns incense is like the one who blesses an idol.
As they have chosen their own ways,
And their soul delights in their abominations,
⁴ So I will choose their punishments
And will bring on them what they dread.
Because I called, but no one answered;
I spoke, but they did not listen.
And they did evil in My sight
And chose that in which I did not delight.”

Isaiah 66:3-4 NASB

Bring your worthless offerings no longer, incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly.

Isaiah 1:13 NASB

For sure, some people will just not agree about the sacrifices being an okay thing, and no worries, I get it. All we really need to do is just watch and see what happens, and do our best to understand it in the light of prophecy, if and when it does.

A Key Date I Missed

It’s funny sometimes how we all just miss things at times, but in God’s providence I think He helps me find the information when I need it despite that. Praise the Lord that we have a Helper! So anyway, what is it? Well, watching that Muslim video, they mentioned the sacrifice could take place on the 2nd of Nisan. And I wasn’t sure what they meant, so I looked it up, and sure enough, Jewish tradition records that Moses sacrificed the first red heifer on Nisan 2, which this year falls on April 10, 2024. So this is another possible date for the red heifer sacrifice.

Thinking about that date, I noticed it was really close the Shabbat of the Red Heifer, which I counted was 1290 days from Yom Kippur in 2027, which is why I was thinking it could be significant and was worth going to Israel to watch. But guess what 1290 days from Nisan 2 arrives at? It’s October 22, 2027, the 21st of Tishri, which is the last day of Sukkot and is considered by Jewish tradition to be “the final day of the divine judgment.” Hmm…that might be significant, too. It is also the last day of Ramadan or the day after Ramadan ends, depending on when the Imam’s determine the month to end, based on observing the moon, either 29 or 30 days to the month. That’s a lot of convergences that should be watched closely.

So it’s like playing Sudoku. You can’t place a number (or color, for ColorKu), until you’ve eliminated all other possibilities. And so, even now, I’m thinking I need to not get ahead of myself, but let’s just watch and see what happens this Spring. 🙂

How did the trip go otherwise?

It was really a wonderful time of just giving a week to the Lord, and letting Him direct our steps. We met some wonderful fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, attended two Messianic services, and we even went to the Garden Tomb for the Easter sunrise service. What a blessing! I also got to visit several places I wanted to see for my next book on Solomon. We were also shown a little known first century church site that I had never heard of before. You can watch the video below and make up your own mind about whether it was really the very first one, but it’s definitely very old, and seems special. Perhaps it was the location where the apostles first received the gift of the Holy Spirit.

But, I’ve concluded that God was not calling us to be in Jerusalem in its day of trouble, which I feel could be fast approaching. But I do think that we were supposed to be there for this trip. On the Thursday after our return there were multiple reports about what a tenuous situation is developing in Jerusalem as Ramadan is coming towards a close. First, a major ISIS terror plot in Jerusalem was prevented from occurring right after we got back. Hallelujah! And then later, the news came out that the entire country is now on high alert for fear of an attack by Iran in response to their killing of three high level generals who were in Syria plotting an attack against Israel.

https://allisrael.com/israel-arrests-isis-terrorists-planning-large-scale-terror-attacks-in-jerusalem?utm_source=convertkit&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Israel%20arrests%20ISIS%20terrorists%20planning%20large-scale%20terror%20attacks%20in%20Jerusalem%20-%2013535525

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/04/israel-on-high-alert-after-iran-missile-retaliation-threat

So all that to say is things are not okay right now, and the idea of this Spring being the start of the 42 months is still viable. Here is a link to Amir Tsarfati’s latest update where is explaining just how serious the present conditions are.

Wrapping Up

I’ll have another interview with Janie DuVall releasing this Saturday about the Antichrist, so you can be on the look out for that, too. 🙂

Also, just a reminder, if you’ve had a chance to read either of my books, would you be willing to write a review on Amazon to encourage others to read it, too? I think that could help convince people that the book is worth their time to investigate. Thanks!

I’m praying for clear skies for the big eclipse coming up on April 8. It is going to be a unique one, where a comet may also be visible. Now this is a little weird, but in the news it is being called “the Devil comet.” Another reason to suspect it’s a significant sign, besides all the speculation about the eclipse path passing over towns called Nineveh, etc. I’m not looking for anything specific related to it, but it does seem like a general warning that was appointed for this time.

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, and may we be found ready when He comes. Amen and Maranatha!

Christian Widener, PhD

EndTimesBerean.com

P.S. Feel free to reach out anytime with comments, suggestions, or questions. 🙂

christian@endtimesberean.com